Missouri Legislature Passes 72-Hour Waiting Period Bill

The bill was passed without an amendment that would have created an exception for victims of rape or incest. It now goes to Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon for signature or veto. (Missouri Capitol via Shutterstock)

The Missouri House of Representatives voted Wednesday on final passage of a bill that would extend the mandatory waiting period for an abortion from 24 hours to 72 hours.

During the floor debate, bill sponsor Rep. Kevin Elmer (R-Nixa)spoke against allowing an exception for victims of rape or incest to be inserted into the bill. “For me, even though that tragic situation may occur, I still believe that God is at work in this world and that he’ll let bad things happen and he doesn’t cause it,” said Elmer.

The amendment, proposed by Rep. Genise Montecillo (D-St. Louis), was rejected. Montecillo chastised her male colleagues for not respecting women. “It is about time we started trusting women and letting them make their own decision,” said Montecillo.

“During the floor debate, bill sponsor Rep. Kevin Elmer (R-Nixa) spoke against allowing an exception for victims of rape or incest to be inserted into the bill. “For me, even though that tragic situation may occur, I still believe that God is at work in this world and that he’ll let bad things happen and he doesn’t cause it,” said Elmer.

While I do respect the position of people who call themselves “pro-life” and have the intellectual honesty to reject rape/incest exceptions to abortion restrictions (even though I disagree), I don’t think Elmer’s justification falls into that category. By claiming that it’s “God’s will” when a rape victim gets pregnant and then using that as an excuse to justify restricting access to abortion, he’s gone to a very different place.

lady_black

For a moment there I was thinking it was Mourdock.

Ella Warnock

Elmer’s constituency includes women who don’t give a flying f*ck about his rapey invisible (imaginary) wizard buddy. Yeah, I think I’ll NOT make life decisions based on your own personal version of an invisible, human sized rabbit named Harvey.